Sweetie - one of the things I like about this company I work for is that isn't true, really. You can speak you mind. I encourage you to. Let me worry about the rest, ok?

Although I can understand on an intellectual level why anyone "different" is hated, I've never truly comprehended on an emotional level why anti-Catholicism still exists in this country. But then again, I suffered from being "different" when I was young, so hating someone for their religion, appearance, or any reason OTHER than their actions has never really made sense to my gut, even as my mind has sadly learned to understand the whys and hows of it.

When I was very young, my parents attended a Salvation Army church. In the services and teachings there, the focus was on living a Christ-like life, helping others. I never recall hatred ever being preached. Later, my parents set me to a Southern Baptist church near our house, and that church had the typical fire and brimstone sermons. I never recall hatred of others being preached, but then I never paid much attention when they started saying I was going to hell...

Hey, Beth...I come from the BUCKLE of the Bible Belt... and, all I can say is this.. the old joke...

how can you tell the difference between a Baptist, and a Methodist?....

...the Methodist will say hello when they pass you in the liquor store..

...do your own thing, sister... religion is PERSONAL... not denominational... personal...

Hey, Eric -

Like the joke. Betcha a Catholic owns the liquor store!

HA!, how'd you know?!?!

Well, being one of those Baptists (though not Southern Baptist), I made the mistake of listening to the Chaplains in College, and attended a Catholic Youth retreat, in a monastary!
Some nights I can feel the flames licking my feet. I'd do penance, but we don't have that option. St Peter better be in a good mood ...

Cheers
JMH

Heh - I grew up in the St. Louis burbs too. Am also Catholic (although I no longer practice - for different reasons than most of the Catholic bashing). And had lots of friends who worked out at Six Flags.

When I headed for college in 1976, I went to Cape Girardeau - talk about your bible belt! The Southern Baptist Student Union was HUGE. They used to go door to door in the dorms - made me crazy. I'd tell them to go away and leave me alone, I'm not converting.

Amazingly the Southern Baptists were some of the biggest drinkers I knew at parties. And I didn't drink at all - never could stand the taste of most alcoholic beverages. College students are too poor for mixed drinks - LOL.

I live here in tidewater south Jersey. When I was a kid in the '40s, little old ladies used to stop by our house way out in the country, and ask my parents if they could
take my brother and I to church on Sunday. My parents always said yes, and we got to go to some really nutzo Protestant churches. But, back in those days, everybody who went to church, was (supposedly)ok, and we never got sacraficed on an altar or anything.

By the time I was a mid-teen, my Dad's younger brother became a college-educated (Bob Jones University) Baptist minister. There were nine kids in my Dad's family, and most of them became judgemental, accusatory
bible-thumping thugs, who were, supposedly going to heaven on my uncles' coat-tails.
I came out of the Army in 1960, ready for my first Presidential election, and an avid
John Kennedy advocate. I would get phonecalls
all through October about the cursed Pope would take over the USA, if that evil Catholic
took over our beloved government. Three different Aunts (one on my mother's side) called me the Sunday before the election to tell me the sermon from three different pulpits instructed the good people to vote against the papist devil. (Remember, good ole
boy Tricky Dick Nixon was the opponent!)

Well, we all know how that turned out. I had several Catholic friends (girls) and went to mass every now and then, doing no damage to my immoral (not a misprint) soul.

I was (and am)always ready to debate religon with folks, but found that religeous
folks take this crap too seriously for me to
discuss things with them.

My second (and present) wife is Catholic.
She's a wonderful and beautiful person. We've been married for 21 years. We couldn't get married in the (capital C) Church. I was divorced and she had a baby out of wedlock (my now 23yr old wonderful daughter). The Priest I called about getting married was very nice, and said we could be married in about a year if we followed all the rules (classes, annulment, lashing by nuns,etc.).
I went to about six Protestant guys and they
were suspicious of that Catholic counterspy I was in love with. Well, we got married, are still much in love, have a 20 yr old son (born in wedlock and just so, so legal).My first wife died about ten years ago, and I offered to get remarried in the Church, if my wife wanted, because she hasn't taken any sacraments for over twenty years, etc. Both of our kids went to Catholic high schools, my son was a (non-abused,whew)alter boy, and
graduated for an expensive and very good school over the river in Wilmington. (Protestants seem to be able to send their kids to high school for free..Hmmm) My wife, has, in the last six months found a Catholic church about thirty miles from home where a
priest who was/is a real favorite of hers holds forth. She really enjoys being back in
the audience of her church, but is reluctant to initiate actual re-joining the church. We've both seen so much intolerance in so many churches, (I told 'em all to go to hell about 25 years ago) she'd rather stick with what she's doing now. Why in the world do
religeous people have to be so unhumanly nasty
to other religons. I, not being so God-fearing have no problem myself, but I see so many average church folks who could probably be eventually persuaded to burn the Synagog or attack the priests and nuns. Religon is such a lovely thing in the fanatics' hands.

To add a PS, my wife is also Irish, (Murphy), and her dad is first-generation, as his parents both came from the Auld Sod, although, they met in New York City, after arriving on different ships in different years. After not caring for about 50 years, he's been to Ireland about six or eight times in the past 12 years with his second wife who is still an Irish citizen after all these years of livig and working in NYC. He got a dual passport a few years ago, which,as first genereation, it seems he is entitled to.

I, too grew up Catholic in St. Anne's Parish outside St. Louis. I once visited my aunt and uncle's farm for a sleep-over with my cousins. My mom came from this HUGE (12 kids) family. Anyway, middle of the night, my cousin sleeping in bed next to me, I'm watching the moon out the window; suddenly it gets
very noisy with shouting and horses outside. Yes,
1965, the Klan coming to burn their cross on the lawn
because we're Catholic. It really did happen back in those days, folks. My uncle Charlie, ever after known as "my hero", ran 'em off with his shotgun. Every time I hear one of my Bible-thumping friends say, "Well, Catholics believe (insert outrageous stereotype here), don't they?" I cringe and remember that if I don't at least try to set them straight, who will?

I think the whole Protestant vs. Catholic thing can be traced back to the Reformation. Some churches have long memories for some reason. And while I don't quite understand the the fixation on the Virgin Mary and the saints, when you get down to it we all are followers of Christ. And the sad thing is that it isn't even a protestant versus catholic thing, many of the protestant churches are like that amoung themselves too. Quite a load of Bravo Sierra to me.

Well, I grew up Southern Baptist in East Texas. I didn't meet any Catholics until I went to college, where I wound up rooming with 3 of 'em. I never heard anything about Catholics in Church and since there weren't any in the area, I guess they just never came up. I did have a good time messing with those guys during Lent, though. (Mmmmm, this beer sure is good, Matt) Then there was that little Tejano girl I dated in Austin who was Catholic and had this . . . nevermind.

Darn, C.R., just when I was getting into that story . . .

As to your experience being Catholic -- wow. All I can say is "wow." I'm Southern Baptist (born, raised, strayed and abck again) and never heard any of that garbage. Frankly, I'd laugh at any pastor who preached that kind of garbage in a sermon (yes, in the middle of the sermon -- the Mrs. thinks I have a TERRIBLE sense of social propriety, but hey, what are you gonna do?) and walk out.

I would surmise those pastors are the same idiots that were against dancing or, better still, against the (to use their terms) "mongrelization of the races". Stupid, narrow-minded cracker bigots who aren't fit to clean God's urinal with their tongues.

Of course, none of the rest of us are, either -- we are all fallen. It's just a shame that sometimes, when we fall, we hurt others so badly.

Steve

It seems to me that it isn't so much a Protestant vs. Catholic question anymore. Whether it is society or the media, it seems we are being protrayed as Jesus freaks. It seems that anything to do with Jesus, and even God, is so unpopular that we are thought of as unsophisticated, naive, wackos. I hope there doesn't come a time when we are even more verbally persecuted for our love of JC. Kind of creepy when you think about it, huh?

I grew up Methodist and now am non-Denominational (Baptist theology but a very loving and non-judgemental church). I would never stand for a preacher or congregation that stood for any kind of bigotry. I've never heard it in church (50 years now). I hope that such sentiment is rare whether in a Bible belt setting or anywhere in the country. I'd stand up and tell a bunch of people off and walk out if I found myself listening to such garbage.